


Love Is More Than Just A Game (For Two)

by kinetikatrue



Category: Men's Hockey RPF, Philadelphia Flyers RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Parent Trap Fusion, Kid Fic, Multi, POV Outsider, Trope Subversion/Inversion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 02:38:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17051483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinetikatrue/pseuds/kinetikatrue
Summary: It begins like this: Caelan Briere and Carson Lessard meet at hockey camp and, after a rocky start - and some unexpected revelations - come up with a scheme that goes something like:1) swap places.2) get the parents in the same place for the first time in a decade??3) ????4) live happily ever afterBut things stop going according to plan when they get to the part involving their parents. Because it turns out happiness doesn't always look the way you expect it to. Sometimes it's even better.





	Love Is More Than Just A Game (For Two)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Arabwel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arabwel/gifts).



> Hope you enjoy this - and are having excellent holidays in general!
> 
> Title from _L-O-V-E_ by Nat King Cole, in a nod to the Lindsay Lohan remake of _The Parent Trap_ , from 1998, i.e. the year Caelan Briere was born. Because, yes, this is a quasi- _Parent Trap_ AU/fusion. But only quasi, because I'm kinda flipping the script on this one. I think the tags should give you a rough idea of how.
> 
> Now, on with the show!

**3-4 Juillet, 2011 - Ecole de Hockey Summit - Stanstead College - Stanstead, QC**

Ever since Carson's mom turned the car south on Autoroute 55, Carson's been staring out the window, watching for signs for Stanstead. They'd whipped through Magog in minutes, and it's been endless stands of trees, broken up by the occasional field since then. But Carson's excited anyway, because he's looked at the map, okay? And he knows that now all that stands between him and arriving at Summit Hockey Camp is them driving south like they're gonna cross the border, and swerving at nearly the last minute. Plus it's great for annoying Cameron -

"What's so interesting?" Cam's craning his neck to see past Carson's head.

Carson shrugs and says, "nothing," like he just doesn't want to tell. 

"No, really."

And Cam gets more and more frustrated every time he says 'nothing'. Eventually Cam will catch on - he always does - but Carson plans to enjoy himself in the meantime. After all, Cam's about to get a three week break from him, so he'd best go out strong.

There's an art to being an annoying older brother.

***

_It looks just like the brochure._ Red brick buildings, wide green lawns, tall trees --

\-- and a line of cars creeping up the main drive to the circle out front of the center building, where a crowd of hockey players and their parents and siblings are milling around. Because the first ever session of Summit Camp - three weeks of hockey camp, at a serious training facility, with kids from all over Europe and North America - is about to begin. It had been an early birthday gift from Granmere and Granpere for Carson - and he's been excited ever since they'd told him, in March, that they'd signed him up. 

And now he's here, and he might just float away from pure excitement.

Or get brought back down to earth by Mom asking mom-questions. "You've got everything?"

"Yeah." Or at least Carson thinks he does. Summit sent a pretty thorough suggested packing list, and he'd probably memorized it by the time it came to actually put things in his duffle and backpack.

"Well, if you forgot anything, tough luck. Or you can use some of your snack budget for essentials." Like she hadn't already told Carson that twice before they even left Ontario. Ugh.

But then she's hugging him, and Cam is rolling his eyes and saying, "I'll miss you, I guess."

\-- and there's a guy with a clipboard walking up, wearing an official Summit logo polo, asking, "And you are?"

"Carson Lessard."

***

After checking in and being assigned a room (Bugbee House, Room 6) and meeting his roommate - 

"Matt. I'm Matt."

Carson is still waiting for the growth spurt fairy to come along and grant him some more height - Matt...is not. Matt probably has a half-foot on Carson, and he probably still will even if Carson tops out at the tall end of Lessard men. Carson sighs. "Carson - and are they thinking that if they room me with you, I'll pick up some height like it's a habit?"

Matt laughs. "Just as long as you don't hack off my legs to get it."

Carson shakes his head. "Too messy. And I hate cleaning."

That gets another laugh out of Matt - and just like that, Carson is pretty sure they're gonna get along, maybe even become friends for real.

\- they go down to the first night's dinner. Carson's sitting there, devouring burgers and pasta salad and sweet potato fries (and ignoring the bowl of salad) - and talking to Matt and the guys in the room next door - when a guy knocks into him, makes his arm jostle right into his glass of milk, and goes right on his way, never noticing the river of liquid pouring into Carson's lap.

All Carson gets a look at is the back of him: about Carson's height, dark hair a bit on the long side, wearing long mesh shorts and a bright orange t-shirt and adidas slides with socks. But that's basically the uniform of boys at hockey camp, or hockey players during the summer, in general. He's wearing it himself - and feeling grateful for the dark colour of his shorts and the way it's hiding the wet spot left by the milk spill.

Not that that's stopped the rest of the guys at his table chirping him over it, 

"Hope you got better reflexes than that on the ice," says the guy to Matt's left, while Carson dabs at the wet spot with his napkin and some water (which, yes, is making it wetter, but better that than going around smelling like old milk).

"Hope that guy has better 'on-ice awareness' than that - or not." And that's the guy sitting across from him, making the rest of them laugh.

And that sets the rest of them to talking shit about the guy and what he deserves to have Carson do to him, and how they're gonna take him down on the ice. And, well, Carson can get into the spirit of that; he's got plenty of practice on account of Cam.

***

Getting the guy back immediately is a no-go. After dinner, they're herded into the main gym and onto the bleachers, for some kind of introductory meeting. Carson figures he knows how it's going to go: the coaches will explain the rules and the schedule, and probably split them into whatever groups or teams they're going to be working in. There's too many kids for it just to be one group, for sure. 

"Allo, i'm Coach Francois. This is Coach Matthieu. And we'd like to welcome you to Summit Hockey Camp. I'll be working with the older players - with help from my assistants - while Matthieu leads the coaching team for you younger ones. Within each age group, we'll be dividing you into two teams..."

And after that, it's mostly exactly what Carson had expected: on- and off-ice training, games every Saturday, free time on Sundays, plus curfew, room inspections, and the rest of the rules they're expected to follow. Matt isn't the only one to cheer at the mention of a party in the student center after each Saturday's games, but Carson can practically see the wheels turning in his head when the Coach Matthieu says the winning teams can get special privileges at them. In Carson's opinion, the best thing to come out of it is that he gets confirmation that he _won't_ end up on the same team as the rude guy from dinner. Plus, he gets a name for him: Briere, Caelan. Caelan being herded off with the rest of his team is the last Carson sees of the guy that night, which is probably just as well.

After all, Carson and Matt did end up on the same team - and Matt keeps suggesting more and more creative ways to get Caelan back. 

The rest of their team, once they've been rounded up, is mostly guys, just like most of the camp is guys. But not entirely. They've also been assigned two girls, both named Anna: Anna K is thirteen, a forward, from Minnesota, and about Carson's height; Anna D is an eleven-year-old goalie from Pennsylvania, and already taller than both of them. By the time their team meeting ends, they're Kleiner and Diehler.

And Carson has had to put his foot down about being called either Lessy or Lesser - or, more to the point, say, "Okay, how about 'Sarder'?" Because that's one of the least worst options available.

But of course that's not the end of the argument.

It still hasn't been settled by the time all the guys on their team are walking back to Bugbee (apparently all the 13-and-unders are there), and Carson's just hoping that whatever he ends up with in the end isn't _worse_ than the original options. So he's more than happy to resume the 'what to do to Caelan' conversation. 

Matt suggests, through a mouthful of toothpaste, "foot odor powder in his helmet," while they're standing at the sinks in the hall bath, brushing their teeth. "Can you imagine his hair…"

Carson laughs and shakes his head, because _yeah_. And then he takes a sneaky look around the bathroom, too well trained by living with Cam not to. But it doesn't look like they're sharing with the object of their conversation.

It's what they fall asleep talking about, and wake up talking about. And when they get to breakfast, right when it opens at 7, and Caelan isn't there, Matt takes it as a sign. He outlines a complicated plot involving icy hot and all of Caelan's equipment straight through two bowls of cereal, a plate of scrambled eggs and sausage, and a stack of peanut butter toast. Carson doesn't have to do much but put in the occasional suggestion.

Of course, when their team gets to off-ice training, they discover that they get to start the day with fitness testing - but it turns out that even his turn on the bike is tolerable with the image of Caelan Briere's stupid hair coated in foot odor powder to focus on.

"Think of the hair," he tells Matt as their groups trade places between exercises, and Matt takes a full minute to stop laughing enough to pedal. 

They get told off by Nicolas, the head trainer, for not taking the testing seriously, but even he can't fault Matt's effort on the bike afterwards, so _worth it_.

 

***

 

**4 Juillet, 2011 - Pat Burns Arena - Stanstead, QC**

The other team in the 13-and-unders group - Caelan's team - apparently had the outdoors part of fitness testing while Carson and Matt's team was doing the indoors part. Or so Coach Matthieu tells them when the two groups come streaming into the arena lobby afterwards.

"And now you get to share the ice," he tells them, before shooing them off to shower and change into their gear.

Fortunately, they don't have to share a locker room - they'd never've gotten everybody through the showers and into their gear and out on the ice on time otherwise. But that fact does leave Matt thoughtfully noting, "we're gonna have to case the other locker room if we want to pull anything off," as he tries to make his hair lay flat again after pulling his practice jersey on.

Carson nods, and continues tying his skate laces. "And figure out where equipment storage is."

"And that," Matt agrees - and shoves his helmet down over his only partially-flattened hair.

They're not the first ones out on the ice, but they're hardly the last, either, and they fall in easily with the rest of the guys skating lazy warm-up circles or noodling around with pucks. They're playing a casual game of 'catch' when Caelan exits the other locker room, talking to two of the other guys from his team.

When Carson just lets the puck his stick and bounce off instead of passing it back to him, Matt turns to see what he's looking at. "Shit, _Mikey_."

It's not super loud, but it's still enough to get Carson scooping up the puck and stick-handling it over. "What?"

Matt leaning over so he can talk basically right into Carson's ear, and, like, whispers. "So, okay, a) that's my brother's friend, Mikey, and if he's pal-ing around with Caelan, then we def have to up our game. But b) he's maybe a little bit mad at me right now, because I'm here instead of my brother, so that goes double if he figures out I have anything to do with anything, Ugh."

"So what you're saying is that we can't let anybody know what we're up to. Cool." Carson shrugs and flicks the puck right over Matt's stick. It looks like one of the assistant coaches is about to start rounding their group up.

"Well, only if we swear them to secrecy," Mikey says, sounding entirely serious.

And then they're off for - it turns out - skill assessment drills, because of course they are.

***

Drills, another shower, lunch, rest period - and Carson is more than happy to flop back on his bed and stare at the ceiling for almost an hour, with Matt occasionally breaking the silence to suggest a new prank - the outdoor part of fitness testing, yet another shower, and then they're back on the ice for, as he suggests to Matt as they step onto the ice again, "On-Ice Training Part II: The Traininging."

Matt snickers as he neatly separates a puck from the pile by the bench gate. "We might even get to try something new this time."

And they do - it's probably still skill assessment, but the kind where coaches throw new things at you to see how you handle them - so that's something at least. And on top of that, this time they get to end training with a scrimmage between the two teams.

"To see how you look in a game situation," as Coach Matthieu says.

But then it turns out that the coaches want Matt on a line with Kleiner, centered by another of the guys with a half a foot on Carson. And the line Carson is on keeps getting matched up against one particular D-pairing. The one Caelan Briere is one half of. And that means, somehow, that Carson keeps having to evade Caelan in order to get anything done.

Not that he wouldn't have to do that anyway, with some other D-man, but Caelan is just extra especially annoying - he's somehow always right exactly there, just where Carson doesn't want him to be, and the whole time he's running his mouth, saying shit like, "fancy meeting you here - it's been ages - we should catch up, _bro_ ," and smiling like he's just daring Carson to call him on his bullshit.

Carson stays resolutely silent, because no way is he giving that idiot the satisfaction - and anyway, it's not like Caelan even knows anything about him that would let him say anything that would hit home for real; so, whatever.

And that works just fine right up until Caelan stumbles into telling a yo mama joke that might actually be funny, Carson doesn't know, if he weren't the one telling it, except it's punching every single one of his buttons on the mom front, and, well, it's Caelan, so it's no surprise when things go sideways after.

The only thing that saves it from becoming a thing is that apparently Caelan wasn't actually expecting that joke to hit, so when Carson snaps and rams his shoulder into Caelan's chest, he goes over like a sack of potatoes - and when they get held after (because both of them were playing away from the puck at that point) and asked to explain themselves, Carson refuses to say anything and Caelan just keeps repeating, "it was just a joke."

So that's one way to start out hockey camp.

 

***

 

**9 Juillet, 2011 - Pat Burns Arena - Stanstead, QC**

 

After that initial clash, Carson manages to hold onto his temper when faced with Caelan on the ice. It helps that - for whatever reason - Caelan has dropped the Yo Mama jokes from his Carson-annoying repertoire, but he's still annoying. Particularly since he's learned Carson's last name, and dedicated himself to distracting Carson by asking dumb questions prefaced by a 'hey, Lesser…'. So that's a thing.

But the most annoying thing is that it seems like now, every time they share the ice, or a meal, or whatever, Carson ends up overhearing Caelan bragging about how his dad is Danny Briere - which, like, _yeah right_ ; there's no way.

Carson keeps his mouth shut about it in public for four days - though Matt fortunately agrees about the chances of it being true, so they do plenty of bitching about it in the privacy of their room (seriously, what're the chances that a big-time NHLer would be sending his kid _here_?!). And dream up increasingly complicated ways of showing everybody else just how full of shit Caelan is. Or at least make him look stupid. By Friday night, they've hit the breaking point, and determined that Saturday is going to be The Day. 

Morning warm-up skate is uneventful, aside from the usual kinds of shit guys get up to the day of a major game. After, they double-check where the camp's equipment guy keeps his supplies, and check that he's got silicone sealant for them to 'borrow' (Matt does a great job of distracting the equipment guy with a seriously earnest discussion about skate-sharpening). They slip, unnoticed, into lunch, and let themselves get herded off to take pre-game naps along with everybody else. The plan is to attack once everybody's had a chance to fall asleep. Instead, they fall asleep themselves.

By the time they wake up, there's no time to stick to Plan A, but Carson is never without a Plan B (not with Cam as a younger brother) - in some ways this is even better.

***

It's not a bad fake-out, if Carson does say so himself. Matt slips into the 'home' locker room to borrow back a roll of stick-tape he'd lent to Mikey, and holds it up victoriously when he comes back out. Then they walk into their own locker room and Matt sits down with his stick and the tape, while Carson slips into the connecting shower-room and out the other side, to apply sealant to the inside of Caelan's helmet. After, the tube of sealant slips neatly in amongst the assorted tubes and bottles in his shower kit. They're both sitting around taping their sticks when the rest of their teammates start trickling in a few minutes later.

There's the usual talk as they all start gearing up, and when most of them are almost ready to head out on the ice, Matt says, loud enough to cut through the half-dozen conversations all happening at once, "You ready to kick some butt?"

And the room echoes back at him, "YEAH."

Despite that, they lose (though it is close). But Carson almost can't find it in himself to care, because watching Caelan go to remove his helmet, discover it's stuck, and pretend he hadn't actually been planning to take it off, at the start of the first period break? That's just...gold. And it only gets better every time he finds himself having to pull his hands back from doing the same thing again and again. Carson feels awfully proud of himself for the restraint he's showed in not chirping the guy about it. Because it's fucking ridiculous.

He does care about losing (he always will, he figures), but with the helmet victory in mind it's easy to tell everybody else, "We'll get 'em next time. It's best two out of three, right?"

And that gets just as much approval as Matt had before the game.

***

When Caelan walks into the student center with the rest of his (stupid, winning) team, they're clearly still talking about his (stupid, winning) goal. But it's all Carson can do to not bust out laughing at the way his hair looks. Because, okay, they clearly ended up having to cut his helmet off after the game, and that's left him with a weird almost mullet: long against his neck in back, where the helmet didn't stick, and then choppily short across the top. And he's just not cool enough to pull it off.

The only thing that would make it worse is if he bleached it.

It doesn't take long for it to become clear that the teams don't plan to cross into enemy territory. And Carson has to wonder: did any of the people in charge think about how this would work out, having an all-camp party directly after half of the campers had lost games to the other half. Like, they're all at hockey camp because they're the kind of competitive jerks who always want to win. And aren't going to feel particularly friendly towards anyone who makes then _lose_.

But somehow nobody's figured out how Caelan ended up with his helmet stuck to his head, so maybe it won't be all bad.

 

***

It's not just bad, but worse, in the end - like, bad enough that they assign Carson and Caelan join punishment.

The first part of it is being confined to their new shared room (with attached bathroom) for 24 hours, and missing all the fun stuff planned for their Sunday free time; Carson's figuring on mostly doing a lot of ignoring Caelan, broken up by sleeping and eating.

Caelan didn't get that memo, though, it seems. The first thing he does, after dumping his bags by one of the beds and stripping out of his ruined shirt, is say, "I have no idea what your problem is, but I wasn't fucking lying."

Carson shrugs - obviously that's what he's gotta say, but. "You got any proof of that?"

In response, Caelan whips out his phone, taps at the screen a few times, and shoves it in Carson's face with a, "See."

And, okay, Carson had been certain he'd been making it all up - that, if Carson challenged him to show some proof, he'd pull out a picture from a fan event, of, like, them both smiling while Danny Briere put his arm around this fucking asshole. Maybe it would even be signed on the back, a sharpied DannyB after some stupid message like _Great last name - keep playing and maybe we'll be buying your jersey someday!_ , the usual stuff players trot out for kids.

The picture Caelan Briere has brought up on his phone isn't anything like that.

For one, it's clearly a personal snapshot of Danny Briere. For another, Caelan is sitting on a couch between Danny and some other guy - who's probably also a hockey player, since he doesn't look like he's related to Briere, unlike fucking Caelan (not that Carson is going to to admit this to anybody) and his stupid fucking flow. And there are two dogs snuggling up to the three of them.

Briere could still be his uncle or something, but if he was, Carson doesn't see why Caelan wouldn't just go ahead and say that - so he probably is actually the son of an All-Star NHLer, slumming it with the rest of them.

"Ugh."

"Told you. And I wasn't even bragging about it, okay. Like, I'd tell a guy I was from Philly and he'd joke about me being related to my dad. And, well, I am, so that's what I'd say. The guys in my group were the ones hyping me up."

"Not completely," Carson says, because he was there for that fucking party, too, and he remembers what Caelan said, every word of it.

"Okay, yeah, I got a little into it - so sue me."

This does not, for the record, make the prospect of sharing a room with the dude for the rest of the camp any less painful - he still has awful hair. Though at least now it's awful because of Carson and Matt.

 

***

Their day in prison doesn't start off so badly. Carson wakes up at his usual time, which is, unsurprisingly, earlier than Caelan wakes up - and gets first shower. And then, because Caelan is also still asleep when one of the kitchen staff shows up with two trays on a cart, gets first pick of the stuff they've been sent. Not that there's anything there that he doesn't like. It's just the principle of the thing.

Also, cold eggs are gross.

He's finished breakfast, stacked his dishes neatly, and spent a whole hour sitting on his bed, texting Matt thrilling updates about life with Caelan Briere, when Caelan himself finally wakes up.

"Whatimezit?" he mumbles through a yawn.

And because Carson isn't a total asshole, he glances at his phone and says, "Almost 9," and then, "there's breakfast if you want it."

Food is apparently enough to motivate Caelan into actually sitting up and kicking the covers off, thereby reminding Carson of the fact that he apparently sleeps in dorky Flyers-print boxers and a faded Sabres shirt. "Like you don't have team merch, too," he says, staring down at the food piled on his desk.

Carson shrugs. "Not really?" His mom bought him a shirt the year the Sens made it to the Final, but as of his last growth spurt he can't fit into it. "I might ask my mom for a new Sens shirt for my birthday." 

Caelan's perched on the desks, eating toast, and he has to swallow before he can say, "Alfredsson? And not a jersey?"

"Yeah, probably." Alfredsson is the obvious choice, since there isn't anybody on the team Carson likes better. "And, nah - not when she already has to keep me and my little brother in hockey gear." Like, clearly being the kid of an NHLer means not having to think about that kind of thing, but jeez.

There's another pause while Caelan finishes chewing a piece of bacon, and then, of course, he asks the question Carson most hates. "Your dad not around to help out with that?"

"No." Carson looks down, pretends that Caelan is completely focussed on breakfast - and stares at his hands. _They could be just like his dad's hands._ But how would he know? He's never met the guy.

"I don't have a mom." Caelan says, suddenly. "Or, okay, obviously I had one, but I don't remember her. My parents got divorced when I was really little - like two, I think - and I dunno why dad got custody of me. But he did. And she went *poof*."

Carson looks up again in time to see Caelan to make a goofy hand gesture to go with the 'poof' - and send cheerios scattering across the floor. He can't help it; he snickers 

Caelan tosses another Cheerio into his mouth and pretends not to notice. "Dad's parents lived with us until I started school, and then we got a live-in housekeeper. And now we have Claude. Giroux. Who isn't actually a rookie," he says, like that's an important part of the whole story. "That was him in our Christmas card picture."

He doesn't know why Caelan is telling him all this, but that reminds Carson. "I've seen a picture of the top of my dad's head. And, like, me. But he's looking down at me, so all you can see is the top of his head and one of his arms." He pulls his backpack up from beside the bed, unzips the front pocket, and pulls the picture out - he brought it as, like, a good luck charm. "He has dark hair - what a shock."

"...your dad had the same couch as mine," Caelan says, after staring at the picture for a long minute. "Lemme show you, like you wouldn't believe - I think my gran put it up on facebook…" He's poking at his phone again, tapping and scrolling, and pausing every now and again. "I thought my dad was the only person dumb enough to buy one."

When he flops down next to Carson and holds the picture up for him to see, there's no question - underneath the guy holding a baby, the plaid remains uniquely, eye-searingly terrible. He nods, says, "Like, I don't know if it was dad's, but I've never seen it in any other pictures. So maybe it was. Or maybe somebody gave it to my mom and she got rid of it as soon as she could." What the hell is his life that he's discussing couches owned by their parents with fucking Caelan.

"Crazy," Caelan says, and reaches across Carson to grab another piece of bacon. "Like, who would buy that on purpose? I mean, maybe Claude, but…" He trails off into a mouthful of bacon.

"He wasn't in the picture." 

"Not really." Caelan shrugs. "I guess Dad knew him from when he was playing for Gatineau - Dad's from there - but he only started living with us when the Flyers called him up a couple years ago."

Carson stares at the pictures even harder - is he actually seeing this? "Look at that..."

"What? The couch didn't just get spontaneously uglier..." Caelan trails off as he catches on. "Shit. Our dads had the same shirt."

"And haircut."

Caelan zooms in on the picture on the screen even further, looks over at the one Carson's holding, looks back at the screen. "...I'm not sure that's a picture of me."

"That's the same kid, for sure. Could be you." Carson flips the picture he's holding over, stares at the back, takes in the date printed on it like he's seeing it for the first time. 8/13/99. "That's before I was born."

And then they sit there, on Carson's bed, trying to get their heads around what Carson's mom and Caelan's granmere both having a picture of Danny Briere, holding Caelan, means. Caelan never eats his eggs.

***

**10-21 Juillet, 2011 - Stanstead College/Pat Burns Arena - Stanstead, QC**

By the time they get released back into the general camp population, it's a whole new hockey game.

Literally: some of the kids who were there for the first week have left and been replaced by different ones. And, like, metaphorically, because Carson and Caelan have definitely called a truce. They're not telling anybody else what they've figured out, which makes it hard to explain to Matt - and Mikey and Nate - why they're suddenly best buds.

"It's some crazy shit - and I promise I'll tell you all about it as soon as I can. But I can't. Sorry," Carson says to Matt at breakfast on Monday. "For now, know this: we were both completely wrong."

Matt stares at the picture of Caelan on the couch with Claude and Danny (which Carson now has on his phone) for a really long time. "Yeah, okay," he says, eventually. "I talked it out with Mikey while you were having your sleepover and braiding Briere's mullet, so."

And that's that (aside from Saturdays, when they go back to being sworn enemies).

Carson's the one to come up with the idea of swapping places.

They're sitting around one of the hall lounges telling each other stories about their parents, and Caelan has just wrapped up one about the time their dad and Claude got back late from a game, and didn't turn the lights on when they came in from the garage, so their housekeeper (who had stayed late to look after Caelan) thought they were breaking in and nearly kneecapped them with the mop. It's pretty funny imagining the hockey player - mop stand-off. And Carson finds himself wishing (for like the millionth time) that he didn't have to just imagine.

For whatever reason, that's the time it tips over from him wishing to thinking _hey, maybe I could actually find out what it's like!_ And then - after double-checking nobody's listening - he's asking Caelan, "whaddya think - could we pull off swapping places?"

"Oh, shit," Caelan says, looking dumbfounded. "Maybe. I have no idea. But I don't care, because I wanna try."

And suddenly story-time has a different purpose: they have to learn as much about each other's lives as possible in the next week and a half.

There's plenty of other details to consider. Caelan's hair needs to be cut to match Carson's - it's still post-helmet incident mullet-y. They have to swap all the important contact info - how are they going to keep in touch otherwise? Carson has to study Caelan's itinerary back to Philly, while Caelan tries to figure out how to tell the great-uncles apart.

After Carson's team wins the second Saturday game, Caelan gets the necessary haircut (courtesy one of the older boys and his electric razor), and once everybody else has piled out of the hall bath they'd pressed into service for the occasion, they stand in front of the mirror and just...stare. 

Finally Caelan says, "yeah, I think we can do it."

Carson nods. It's kinda freaky, if he's being honest. Like, they don't quite look like twins. But. Enough. 

They get a lot of stares.

When they get to what's become their usual dinner table, Matt says, succinctly, "shit."

"That about covers it," Mikey agrees.

"Which one of you is Caelan, again?" Kleiner puts in, teasing - she's been absorbed into their weird cross-team group.

"That one." Carson smirks, a little. "He'll probably be able to tell you himself in a minute or two." Because one of the funniest revelations of their new relationship is that Caelan has a thing for Anna K, and sometimes that means his brain goes offline around her. Mostly it just means he spends a lot of time looking at her like she invented hockey and pizza and everything else worth anything. Because his big brother is totally a romantic.

Caelan does smack him a little for that, eventually, but Carson doesn't mind too much because that means he gets to watch Caelan try to talk to Anna, which is a spectator sport in and of itself, even though it should be easy, given Anna is just as much of a hockey geek as any of them.

Mostly, they do a lot of hockey drills, and conditioning drills, and scrimmaging along with everybody else. But in between all that, the two of them put each other memory drills. Because they don't have much time left to get it all down.

There isn't as much to remember about Caelan's living situation: dad, their long-term housemate (Claude Giroux!), the dogs (Zoey the bulldog and Zora the Boston terrier) - and their now part-time housekeeper (Hélène)

But explaining all the Lessards to Caelan is a whole 'nother story. At least he has pics to help out, courtesy his granmere's facebook. Which is why he's pointing at a bunch of tiny Lessards in turn, and naming them for Caelan. "That's our mom, Sylvie. Granmere and Granpere. Oncle Seb and his wife, Karine, and their baby, Niko. And Cameron, standing next to me." Carson sighed. "He's ten, and if anybody is going to figure it out, it'll be him. Little shit."

"Too smart for his own good, eh." Caelan looks considering. "Does he take bribes?"

"You don't know the half of it - he notices _everything_. And he'll take you for everything he can get." Which maybe makes Cam sound terrible, and he isn't really. But it's still true. "Now, back to the gran-oncles…"

Because they just have to keep at it - the last Saturday is coming at them all too quickly.

They've been realising that there're some things they'll just have to figure out how to deal with when they come up: Carson is totally a morning person, while Caelan prefers to stay up as late as possible. Caelan is more outgoing. Carson is used to doing chores.

"At least you can speak French, too," Carson says, late in the final week of camp. They're hiding out behind the rec center, trying to come up with potential problems and possible solutions. And they definitely don't want anyone overhearing.

Caelan shrugs and says, "We do go back to Quebec, to see Dad's parents, every summer. We already did this year, before I came to camp. Dad didn't leave when I came to camp, but he should be back now, getting ready for the season." And then, "on that note, my team has a video session in ten, because we have a game to win tomorrow. See you around, little bro."

Carson stays where he is for a while longer, picking at the grass and trying to get his head around the fact that he's actually going to see his dad in, like, two days.

 

***

 

**24 July, 2011 - Philadelphia International Airport - Philadelphia, PA**

He's been to the US for tournaments before - though never to Philly - but it's different going by plane. Faster, for one. But also, he gets an unaccompanied minor escort from security to the plane, and from the plane to where his dad is waiting at the exit. Also, he gets to sit in first class.

Because his dad - _his dad_ \- makes bank playing in the NHL.

His dad, who apparently missed him a lot, if the way he's wrapping him up in a hug is anything to go by. Not that Carson is going to protest, given he's never been around to get a hug from his dad before. If anything, he might be hugging back even harder.

"Not getting too big for hugs, now, eh?"

"Never," Carson says, because he can't imagine that right now.

"You do always start to go native when you're up there," his dad says. But he's smiling, the weird way grownups do sometimes, over strange stuff like that.

 

***

 

**24-28 Juillet, 2011 - Briere residence, etc - Haddonfield, NJ**

When he comes in the front door with his dad - _his dad_ , and maybe thinking that will get old eventually, but it definitely hasn't yet - the dogs are there to greet them. And then make confused noises when they figure out that this kid isn't quite the right kid.

Carson figures the only thing to do is make a joke of it. "What, did you guys forget me? I've only been gone three weeks…"

His dad laughs and says, "well, you did cut your hair. And you definitely smell like hockey camp."

From further into the house, another voice chimes in, "Isn't eau de locker room the same all over?"

And then his dad is laughing - and herding him down the hall and into the kitchen, where Claude Giroux, _another actual NHL hockey player_ , is leaning against the kitchen counter, surrounded by the makings for grilled cheese. And wearing a t-shirt that says 'Do One Thing Every Day That Scares You'. Which seems a little too on the nose for Carson's life right now, what with the whole switching places with his surprise older brother thing.

"Hey, mini-B," Claude says, "you hungry?"

Dad snorts.

"Dumb question, right? But I didn't want to assume. You coulda stopped for food on the way back."

And Carson had almost asked if they could do exactly that, just so he could put off having to know things about the house and everything, and have a little more of his dad all to himself. But then he'd realized that out in public, at a restaurant, might be even worse. The way Caelan had talked, it wasn't too bad being the kid of an NHLer, but still, you could never know when someone would want to butt in and say 'hi'.

But he is hungry, so "What, and miss all this, G?"

He's survived first contact - so maybe he can actually make this work?

***

cartalks99: _think Cam's susp already_  
_I'm bing 2 nice mayb??_

Carson laughs and types back _try ignoring him more and it'll pass_ and _tbh he might b saying the same thing abt me if I were there_. He almost misses the little shit right now.

cartalks99: _mom's gr8 tho_  
_and Oncle Seb and granmere and granpere_  
_2 bad u prob won't meet dad's parents_

Dad had mentioned their trip to Quebec, but Carson knows they've gone and come back already, and Dad and Claude will start gearing up for the season soon, so _ur probs rite_ and then, because he's curious (and not because he really minds) _is dad always this LAME??_

cartalks99: [laughing emoji]  
_he's worse whn he hasn't cn me 4 a while_  
_this 2 shall pass_  
_so keep ur hed up_

And really, Carson's entire goddamn family (including his mom, though she maybe wins least-lame) is lame - how had he not realised this before?

***

Carson gets to sleep as late as he likes the next morning, which makes a nice change from waking up early every morning at camp. Still, as late as he likes only ends up being 8:30, partially because he didn't think to close the blinds the night before and it turns out Caelan's room gets a really good view of the sunrise. From the bed. And partially because Carson, himself, is still a morning person.

From the looks he gets when he makes it downstairs before 9, fully dressed, this isn't exactly in character - which he should've remembered. 

"Got exciting plans or something?" his dad asks, from where he's sitting at the breakfast bar with coffee and the paper.

Carson shakes his head - he doesn't even know what there is to do around here - and says, "Nope, but I could smell that." Because Claude is at the stove, standing over a large skillet of bacon, and Carson had been able to smell it cooking all the way upstairs.

"Sh...oot - I forgot to turn on the vent fan, again."

"I could've sworn I paid extra for them to feed you three meals a day." His dad says, smiling and clearly joking.

Carson makes an unimpressed face and says, "You try getting enough bacon at a table full of hungry peewee hockey players."

"Clearly being an only child kept you from honing your cut-throat instincts." And Claude's the one that says it, clearly not meaning anything by it. But Carson happens to be looking at his dad, still, and maybe he wouldn't've spotted the split-second reaction if he hadn't known what he knows. But he does, and it's there. And his dad needs to stop worrying, because Carson is on top of this shit.

"Oh, my instincts are plenty cut-throat." Which, sure, is probably because he _isn't_ an only child, and he's not so much older than Cam to have an easy time keeping a step ahead of him. But he ducks in and steals a just getting crispy piece of bacon - out from under Claude's nose - to prove it.

And that gets Claude protesting and his dad laughing, and Carson thinks he's played his part pretty okay so far.

***

The first thing he sends to Caelan, when he finally gets a chance to log on that evening - he's left Dad and Claude out by the pool drinking beer and talking about adult shit - is _G's golf shorts are HIDEOUS_ , followed up by _did he infect U 2??_ Because after breakfast, his dad suggested a trip down the shore to swim and eat frozen custard and play mini-golf. Carson had been thinking about changing into a polo and a nicer pair of shorts, right up until he got a look at Caelan's collection of golf shorts. Plaid as far as the eye could see.

cartalks99: _y do u hate color so much??_  
_his fav plaid 1s do clash bad tho_  
[crying-laughing emoji]

Carson snickers to himself - there's nothing wrong with a nice pair of plain black cargo shorts - and shoots right back _y do u like PLAID SO MUCH??_ and then _yyyy_ , because if Caelan means the shorts Claude was wearing today, that's an understatement.

cartalks99: [shrug emoji]  
_all the guys wear it_  
_i ignored Cam more 2day_  
_hes lookin at me funny_

It's a delicate balance with Cam, and Caelan hasn't had a lifetime to perfect it. Not that Carson has, entirely, yet, but Caelan probably isn't getting it wrong in the same ways Carson does. And Cam's too smart not to notice - and wonder whether Carson maybe got replaced with a robot duplicate. But that reminds him _Zoey and Zora still unsure abt me_.

cartalks99: _ok_  
_what u gotta do is bribe them_  
...

***

The next day, Carson stays upstairs until nearly 10, reading stuff in Caelan's (unexpected) stash of comic books - that never came up in their 'welcome to my life' briefings. He snuck a couple protein bars up the night before, in preparation, so he wouldn't starve waiting for it to be late enough for 'Caelan' to come down. And all in all it doesn't turn out to be a bad way to pass a couple hours.

And when he does come downstairs, he's quiet enough that his dad and Claude don't notice at first. He's not trying to be sneaky - his mom's just got him too well trained on the not sounding like a herd of elephants front. But the point is that the first thing he sees, on his way to the kitchen to hunt cereal, is them laying on the couch together, hair still wet from the shower, talking. And the way his dad is smiling at Claude, well, it suddenly puts a different spin on things. Now is not the time to let on he knows anything, though, so he sneaks the rest of the way to the kitchen and then starts banging cupboards open looking for a bowl and some cereal and a spoon.

Not that he doesn't remember Caelan's explanation of where they keep the stuff he deemed 'essential', but Carson needs his dad and Claude to for sure know he's made it downstairs now.

"I see how it is - I don't cook bacon, and you revert to your old self."

Carson shrugs. "Them's the breaks." Because he can't tell Claude 'I'm getting better at pretending to be my older brother'. 

When his dad walks in a moment later, Claude tells him, "you've got a fickle kid, here."

His dad says, "guess he's getting an early start on being 13." And then he gets a look like maybe just remembered that that's actually about to happen.

Which, if Carson is remembering correctly, it is, in about 24 hours - while the actual Caelan is still in Ottawa, where nobody knows. 

For now, he figures the answer is 'distract them with ball hockey'. 

***

Calling goal was the right call, Carson decides, ten minutes into the game. Because his dad and Claude are pretty evenly matched, so not much actually makes it close enough for him to have to try and stop it. And most of the stuff that does, gets knocked wide - or high. Mostly what he's been doing is observing.

And what he's concluded is that playing hockey can totally be flirting.

Like, okay, it's totally standard hockey to 'play the body' - and if it were him and Cam doing it, it would be all about Carson riling Cam up by using his superior size and strength to keep Cam away from the ball, or take the ball away from Cam - but the way his dad is smiling and laughing while Claude drapes himself over his back? Claude's clearly trying to rile Carson's dad up in an entirely different way. Or the jokes they're making when they think they're far away enough that Carson won't hear, about sticks and balls. Those are definitely sex jokes. Or the trick stick-handling, which Carson is clearly supposed to think is for his benefit. Maybe it is, a little, but mostly it's a mating dance, like in all the nature shows.

The point is that it's a very...educational game of ball hockey.

***

It's tough pretending that he just wants to go off to his room by himself early that evening, when his dad invites him to help them pick a movie off of Pay Per View, complete with a joke about letting him watch something PG-13 a day early (which, Carson has been watching PG-13 stuff for years, because his mom isn't totally lame). He's still soaking up every moment he can get with his dad, and greedy for it. But he's pretty sure his dad won't mind getting left alone with Claude - and anyway, Caelan probably wouldn't be so eager.

And Caelan is who he needs to talk to.

Which is what he reminds himself when he hears his dad tell Claude, "well. I did know this was coming. Eventually." 

And Claude reply, "they grow up so fast," like he's some expert on kids.

Carson doesn't stick around to hear what else they might have to say.

Caelan beats him to saying anything, though - as soon as Carson logs on, their chat window tells him _cartalks99 is typing_.

cartalks99: _CAM DEF MADE ME 2DAY_  
_threatnd 2 tell mom_  
_bribd him w fruit by th foot_

Carson nearly types over him to tell him _I THINK DAD IS IN LOVE W CLAUDE_ , followed up by _he gets the same dopey look u had around Anna K at camp_

cartalks99: _WHAT_

Which means it's time for Carson to lay out all the evidence he has. He can't wait for Caelan's reaction to the ball hockey game.

***

"Oh," Carson's mom - _their_ mom - says, as she looks from Caelan, seated next to her, to the image of Carson on the screen. "You do look incredibly alike!" 

Carson stays instinctively silent while she spends several long moments cataloguing them - he knows they're not mirror images of each other: Caelan has slightly darker hair, and is a few cms taller, while Carson has a slightly rounder face. But the matching haircuts do a lot to increase the illusion.

"Not identical, no, but close." She says, and smiles. "Good job, well done. Which is probably not how I'm supposed to react, but...I can't say I wouldn't have done the same under the circumstances. Not that I could've passed for your Oncle Seb by the time we were your age." 

Carson wants to say 'well, we shouldn't've had to', but doesn't - Caelan does it for him, though.

Their mom looks sad for a moment, but she's nodding. "No, you're right. And maybe you won't believe me, but I didn't ever mean to never see you again," she tells Caelan, firmly. "I didn't. But I was divorcing your father across an international border - and having Cameron - all in the same year. And your father and I agreed that it would be better for both of you to not have your parents constantly dropping in and out of your lives while you were too young to understand what was going on. After a while, it started to seem impossible to explain. Oh, I knew we'd have to eventually, certainly before either of you were old enough for Juniors. But this will complicate things, and, well, I can't speak for your father, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do it yet..."

They both nod - Carson certainly doesn't intend to never see his dad again now that he's met him, and from what Caelan's said, he feels the same about mom.

"But the way you're handling this, so maturely - it's reassuring. It makes it seem possible that your dad and I can work something out."

Carson and Caelan share a look through the screen that promises that for now, at least, the events that set this whole thing in motion are not to be spoken of - they both like the sound of their parents 'working something out' too much to put that in jeopardy.

And then she's thinking aloud. "I suppose it wouldn't be entirely fair to just send you back to your father, unannounced - funny, yes." She smiles, conspiratorily. "But not fair. Anyway, I can work from anywhere over the summer, and there's nothing in the custody agreements stopping me...so I'm thinking that I'd like to have my cake and eat it, too: show up unannounced with you in tow." Her grin widens as she raises one black polished nail. "Now, there are plenty of other details to work out before we leave, but first: does he have a pool to trip backwards into?"

Carson snickers when Caelan answers for both of them. "Oh, _yeah_."

And he nearly hurts himself trying not to laugh too loud when Cam can't resist erupting out of a pile of clean laundry to say, "no fair! They get to have all the fun!"

***

It's not too hard to shrug off most of his dad's birthday planning - it doesn't seem right to let them make too big a deal over him when he isn't really the birthday boy. And anyway, he means it when he says no, he doesn't want to invite anybody to dinner; they'll probably do something over the weekend (he sure doesn't want to have to be whatever Caelan his friends know). No, he doesn't mind getting Italian at their 'usual place' and going to a movie after (he's never done either of those things with his dad). No, he wouldn't rather see a Phillies game (he's not really a Jays fan back home, either). And if any of that strikes his dad as weird, he seems to be chalking it up to 'Caelan's' abrupt turn into moody teenagerdom, which apparently covers a lot of Carson's lapses.

He doesn't object when it becomes clear that Claude will definitely be joining them - for all that Carson is worried by the fact that Claude represents a major roadblock on the way to his and Caelan's desired outcome, well, he can't help liking the guy, and can see why his dad likes having him around; he's not irrational about it, okay, even if his mom is objectively better.

And it is a nice dinner.

His dad and Claude order wine - and do a lot of smiling at each other over their glasses. Carson has spaghetti with amazing meatballs, and a massive slice of cheesecake with fresh strawberries. And they all swap stories and linger at the table. Carson mostly sticks to hockey camp stories - Mikey and Nate got up to enough shit to cover a dozen dinners - and his dad and Claude trade in reminiscing about When Caelan Was Younger and When I Was In Junior.

Eventually, his dad notices the time - and wraps up his current story with, "and that's why you should always travel with at least two more pairs of socks than you think you'll need."

And then they're paying the check and off to the movies.

He had a brief debate with himself, earlier, about whether he should pick _Captain America_ or _Cowboys and Aliens_ for the movie - the last Harry Potter is out, but he and mom have a tradition of seeing those together, so it was just down to guessing what Caelan would pick. And then he remembered the stack of comic books that's been getting him through 'not being a morning person'. So he's ready to answer, " _Captain America_ , okay?" when his dad asks.

"Reminding yourself of where you live," Claude jokes.

And Carson has to be really firm with himself about not saying anything about secret identities, and how he maybe has one. Because he does, kinda, but now is really not the time.

***

cartalks99: _mom throws a pretty sweet party_  
_n we fly in 2mororw_

***

They're in the backyard, grilling, when Caelan and mom actually show up. Well, Claude has control of the grill. Carson's hanging out in the pool, by the ladder in the deep end, telling his dad more hockey camp stories. Zora's at his feet, looking like she might be thinking of getting in the water, too.

Mom's entrance is like something out of a movie.

The sun's getting low in the sky, so when she comes around the corner of the house, into the backyard, she's backlit, haloed by the sun. And she has her hair down, loose, so it moves with her as she walks. She's wearing a black tank-top, the better to show off her tattoos, and a pair of black jeans, and low black boots.

She gets the reaction she was going for, too: as soon as Dad catches sight of her, he takes a surprised step backwards, gets tangled up with Zora, and goes flailing over the edge into the pool with a massive splash - Carson barely manages to get out of the way.

Caelan - the actual Caelan - rounds the corner of the house a moment later. Carson's the only one to notice, at first, but the dogs aren't far behind. Zora barks once, decisively, at Carson (as though to say 'see, I KNEW you weren't the real one'), before rushing Caelan, yipping excitedly. Zoey follows more sedately, but Caelan's gone down under an avalance of excited dog long before Dad manages to drag himself, dripping, up the pool ladder.

Mom's there to meet him.

Dad pushes the wet hair back out of his eyes and says, "Not an hallucination, then."

"Hello, Danny."

"So, you're here - but why? And why now? It's been a decade and then...this." He hurries to add, "don't get me wrong - you aren't unwelcome…"

"It might have something to do with the fact that there appear to be two of them…" Claude suggests, poking at the steaks with the grill tongs.

That's about when Dad actually notices that while, yes, that is his kid hanging out on the pool ladder, listening to his conversation with Mom, there's a second kid in the yard, currently being licked to death by the dogs. And he hasn't taken so many hits to the head that he can't add it all up and get a logical answer. "You're not actually Caelan, are you."

Carson shakes his head. "Nope." It's something of a relief to say, it turns out.

Dad turns his attention back to Mom. "So, you've had Caelan for the past few days."

And Mom smiles and says, "It appears so. His brother caught on before I did, though."

"And I didn't notice at all." Dad shakes his head, ruefully.

***

Over dinner that night, the whole story of how they figured it out and what they got up to as each other comes out.

The incriminating couch makes their mom laugh and say, "that was a terrible couch. It came with the house we were renting, though, so we didn't have much of a choice."

Caelan skirts around the question of how he kept Cam from telling immediately, once he figured it out, and then sets Carson up for setting his next plan in motion, by saying, "Too bad I couldn't stick around to go camping with granpere and the gran-oncles. It sounded like a good time."

And that's Carson's cue to chime in with, "Yeah, it is. And we're missing it because of this, so I think we should go camping here. This weekend."

"The dogs…" Dad starts

But their mom cuts him off, neatly. "I don't mind a bit staying behind to take care of them. We'll have a wonderful time, all us girls."

And that's that - they're off to the Pine Barrens in the morning.

 

***

 

**29 Juillet, 2011 - Pine Barrens, NJ**

Carson doesn't know why, but he somehow expected his dad to be good at camping. Claude, he was sure, would be terrible at it, but Danny? Nope. He was supposed to show Claude up, be put off by how bad Claude was at being out in the woods. Instead, he's turning out to be just as bad, if not worse. And Caelan's shrugging it off, all 'how was I supposed to know? He's never taken me camping' and 'we can still make the trip worse for Claude and make Dad see how much better off he'd be without him'.

Like that's going to work, when Dad and Claude spent the whole time they were fumbling through setting up their tent laughing at how bad they were at it.

Carson's worried, okay? He wants to keep this, and he's pretty sure he won't get to for real unless his mom and dad get back together.

Caelan must see it, because he drags Carson out of earshot of the grownups and tells him, "Just chill for now - I've got a plan for tonight."

And Carson may not like waiting, but he's seen Caelan's skills in action, so he guesses he can try at least. Anyway, it turns out to be an okay afternoon when he relaxes a little. They go to a visitor's center thing where a ranger shows them the carnivorous plants native to the barrens and teaches them how to spot bobcat tracks. And then they take a tour of a bunch of the ghost towns in the Pine Barrens. Which, apparently there are more of them in this one area in Jersey than in the entire U.S. west?

They get dinner at a restaurant, because the only things Carson really knows how to cook over a campfire are hotdogs and baked potatoes, and his dad declares that he wants something more filling before they get to the part with the s'mores.

But the s'mores DO come, because Carson's granpere taught him how to build a good fire as soon as he was old enough to be trusted to strike a match. And Caelan delivers with an elaborate retelling of the whole Jersey Devil thing, complete with dramatic pauses and a pretty good creepy voice. But it doesn't seem to rattle either dad or Claude - oh, they're appreciative, but they turn right back around and tag-team telling them creepy stories in French. And while Claude isn't very good, dad turns out to have a real knack for making the most of his simple delivery.

After the fire burns down, and they cover the embers and head to bed, Carson huddles in his sleeping bag next to Caelan and lets out a frustrated huff - nothing's working, and it's beginning to seem like there's nothing Claude is bad at that would actually matter to dad.

 

***

**1-2 Aout - Briere house - Haddonfield, NJ**

They stay the promised second night, because Carson really does like camping and isn't about to give it up - plus, he saw a sign advertising canoe rentals, and he bets he's the only one of them who actually knows how to canoe (he turns out to be right, and manages to get everybody else into the water and soaked before they gang up and turn the tables on him). And by the time they return to civilization, Carson has regrouped enough to have a new plan: if they can't get dad to take a dislike to Claude, then they clearly need to remind mom and dad why they liked each other enough to get married in the first place. Hinting that they have a lot of talking and catching up to do is enough to get Claude out of the house, and then it's a matter of putting on some mood music, sneakily ordering them in dinner, and disappearing up to Caelan's room for some brotherly bonding.

Every time they check on downstairs from the landing, things seem to be going well, and when dad finally walks mom to the door (she insisted on getting a hotel, even though there's totally an extra guest bedroom), there isn't any kissing, but the way they look at each other definitely has potential.

***

The next day, while dad and Claude are out working out, Carson goes out to the backyard, and sits on a lounger by the pool. His mom lays down on the next one over, and Caelan takes the one beyond her. They talk about this and that - what Carson missed at home while he was at camp, the trip from Ottawa to Philadelphia, what she got up to with the dogs while they were camping, the camping trip itself.

Eventually, Caelan just up and asks what both of them are wondering. "So, are you and dad working things out?"

"Yeah - are we gonna move here before school starts? Carson adds.

Their mom goes quiet for a moment, her thinking-quiet as Carson thinks of it. "Oh," she says. And then, "oh, boys. I should've known you'd hope for that - and I certainly can't blame you for it. But it isn't going to happen."

"Why not?" Carson asks. Because it's the obvious solution, okay? And he isn't giving up having a dad without a fight.

"Because your dad and I are happier - and better off - as friends. We still care about each other, and I hope we always will. And I don't mind admitting that, if anything, I think he's more attractive now than he was a decade ago..."

____

"Ewww," Caelan says, making a face.

Their mom laughs and continues, "...but we got divorced for a number of reasons, and just about all of them are still problems. We talked a lot last night, as I'm sure you're aware, and it _was_ wonderful catching up and re-connecting. But the more we talked, the more sure we both became that not trying to stay together had been the right choice."

"Why?" Caelan asks, this time.

"Because making a relationship last means committing to it, which means feeling like it's worth committing to. You probably won't believe me, but love only gets you so far." 

Caelan scoffs at that, but Carson just shrugs, because he's never thought about it particularly - he's not even 12, so it's not like he's got a whole lot of experience with relationships yet.

"I was never going to be happy being a hockey wife long-term. I couldn't work in the U.S. back then - and now I've got a satisfying career at home. Oh, I could probably find a way to transfer it to Philadelphia, but doing that would mean losing something else I value: living near my parents and Seb and his family, and all the aunts and uncles and cousins, and my friends. Would you really want to leave all of them, and your friends, and everything?" 

"I could visit," Carson says. "I could make new friends, here. But I'd miss you." He looks over at Caelan when he says the last bit, but Caelan isn't laughing at him, so maybe that didn't make him sound too much like a silly little kid.

"And I'd miss you," his mom agrees. "But I can't come back. I don't think you'd understand how isolated and alone I felt when we were first married, and the two of you were babies, and your dad was gone so much of the time. His parents came to visit sometimes, and they were wonderful. And some of the other guys in Springfield had wives or girlfriends who lived there. But there were things I needed I didn't feel right asking them for. And that part has changed - somewhat. You certainly aren't babies any longer. But…"

"Is it because of Claude?" Caelan asks.

"Yeah, I know dad likes him, likes him," Carson agrees. "So is that the big reason it won't work?"

Their mom shakes her head. "I don't know why I'm even surprised. Danny said he hadn't told you yet, because he didn't want to shake things up around here before they were sure they had something worth the telling. But that man wears his heart on his sleeve."

"So?"

"No, Claude isn't _the_ big thing standing in the way. Oh, I certainly respect your dad's relationship with him, and wouldn't try and drive him off in any case. But even if your dad weren't seeing anyone, all the rest of it would still be there. Claude just puts a period on that."

"Oh." And Carson knows how his mom sounds when she really means something - that's it.

 

***

That evening, their mom tells Dad, "your turn!" and takes off for an evening out in Philadelphia.

And for all that nothing about their futures is actually settled, Carson finds that knowing that the one option is off the table makes it easier to appreciate Dad and Claude as they are. "It might not be so bad having a Claude, too," he tells Caelan while they sit at the breakfast bar watching dinner preparations.

"I told you he was a pretty good guy," Caelan says, then laughs. "I didn't know how good Dad thought he was, though. Not sure how. We've only had a 'family' Christmas card for two years, now."

"Maybe Cam and me can be in the next one." And that's a thing to look forward to, anyway.

Caelan laughs. "Oh, man - they'd probably make another video about us, and how Dad keeps collecting additions to the family. Somebody would probably suggest we were clones."

"Well, we could be…," Carson says, snickering, and that sets Caelan off even more.

And that's how Dad and Claude find them: collapsed against each other, laughing their asses off, united in potential clonehood.

Caelan manages to gasp out, "Next year's Christmas card. The reaction."

And by the looks on their faces, they can see it just as clearly as Caelan and Carson.

"Oh," Dad says. "Three kids, two dogs - and you. It'll be a circus."

"And you'll enjoy every minute of it." Claude smiles, fondly. "I know you've missed having them."

Dad's smiling back so fondly, and Carson is feeling generous, so he just up and says, "It's okay - you can kiss. We won't complain. Much."

And apparently Mom briefed them, because they do, their Dad and their Claude, without missing a beat.

And Carson still doesn't know how it's going to work, but, well, he's beginning to believe it really will.

**Author's Note:**

> Summit Hockey School/Camp didn't actually exist until 2012, but for my purposes...they're starting a year early. Fortunately, Stanstead's Pat Burns Arena actually opened in the spring of 2011, so they CAN be in business then!
> 
> At least some of the kids at hockey camp are basically easter eggs.
> 
> You can never link the Briouxes card video too many times:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e81aX54NO90&feature=youtu.be&t=36s


End file.
